


Starbucks

by wakemeup



Category: X Factor (US) RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-26
Updated: 2013-07-26
Packaged: 2017-12-21 10:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/899351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wakemeup/pseuds/wakemeup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt fill: "lauren and camila always say that they lived like parallel lives before xfactor. someone should write a ff, that they met before, just like for a sec and they fell in love and when they meet again on xfactor and the feeling just gets stronger and they fall like officially for eachother."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starbucks

“You’re seriously at Starbucks right now, by yourself?” Lauren doesn’t know why she bothered picking up the phone at all.

“Yes, you idiot.” Alexa laughs through the phone and continues to say something about the date she went on last night and how great it was and Lauren doesn’t really pay all that much attention as she scrolls through Tumblr.

“Sorry, is anyone sitting there?” Lauren shakes her head no without looking up and moves her bag to the floor. She was sitting on the high bar by the front of the store. She preferred being about to look at the window at everyone walking around. She mumbles a ‘yeah’ to Alexa to pretend she’s still listening, but when she doesn’t hear her best friend’s voice she pulls the phone back only to realize that the other girl had hung up. “Shit.” she says.

“You really shouldn’t curse like that.” Lauren looks over at the girl who had asked to sit where her bag originally was and immediately notices the blue bow atop her head. She thinks it’s a bit childish, but when the other girl turns her head Lauren forgets about the bow and focuses on the brown eyes and her smile. She doesn’t respond, but the other girl reaches her hand out, “Hi, my name’s Camila.”

Lauren takes her hand and shakes it. She smiles back at the girl. “We have matching computers.” She points to the Macbook Airs. “Apparently, we have matching hobbies too.” Camila says as she points at Lauren’s Tumblr Dash.

Camila goes back to her computer and opens up Firefox to pull up her dashboard. “Mistake number one, don’t use firefox.” Lauren says as she watches her. Camila only laughs and responds with “I suppose you use, Chrome?” Lauren nods.

“I guess we’ll agree to disagree?” Lauren shakes her head ‘no’ now. “You’re going to have to change your ways if you want us to be friends.”

“Who says I want to be your friend?” Camila replies back immediately. Lauren enjoys the quick banter. It’s refreshing.

“You sat next to me.”

“There was no where else to sit.”

“Fine.” Lauren just huffs and goes back to tumblr. After a few minutes she notices that Camila gotten up. She watches as the girl walks to the counter. Lauren observes unabashedly and notices the red high waisted shorts and collared white tank that adorn her and smiles at the blue bow that sits atop her head. The word that comes to mind is patriotic. She notices the stature and the way the girl taps her fingers against the counter as the barista takes her order and she notices the long brown wavy curls that fall midway down her back.

Camila turns to look back, presumably to check on her stuff, but instead she catches Lauren’s gaze and returns it. Lauren looks away after a few seconds and goes back to her computer.

“Here you go.” Camila says and hands her an iced caramel macchiato. “Thanks?” She replies.

“I saw your empty one.” That’s all she says in reply. Lauren wonders if she’s supposed to say something back. She doesn’t. Instead, she waits.

\-------------------------

“Chris, this is Camila.” Lauren says as they rush into her house to escape Miami’s typical heat.

“Nice to meet you!” Camila says as she follows Lauren up the stairs and into her room.

“You know, Alexa’s beginning to think I’m ditching her for a quote ‘tumblr addict’ and I don’t stand to correct her.” Lauren says as she plops herself down on her bed.

“You’re the one who was sitting at Starbucks doing it by yourself.”

“That was one time and it was nearly a month ago!” She tries to defend herself.

“Whatever. I know I have a problem, you’re in denial.” Camila goes to sit on the bed, but at the last minute decides Lauren’s back would be more comfortable. “Ouch!” Lauren screams, but Camila only begins to laugh. Camila plops down so that her back is on the bed, her butt on Lauren’s back. She fans herself.

“Get off, your butt is too big for this!” Lauren says in a jokingly manner.

“You like it, Jauregui!” Lauren laughs and turns her body so that Camila’s pushed off. She goes to sit against the headboard and Camila follows suit.

“What if I did?” She asks once they settle themselves.

“I’d have to say most people do.” Camila replies.

“What if I want to be the only one to be able to say that to you?”

\-------------------------

“Lauren get ready!” She hurries to grab her sunglasses and heads downstairs. “I’m ready!” She takes a deep breath and gets in the car.

“Are you nervous?”

“Of course, mom.”

“You’ll do fine!” Her dad says from the drivers seat.

“Anyone you know trying out too?” Lauren thinks, she doesn’t really know anyone else who’s going to be there. She thought about telling Camila, but she didn’t want anyone to know in case she didn’t actually make it through.

“Nope.” The rest of the drive is quiet. She gets to the registry and tells them her name and gives a quick demo tape and gets in line. The heat is unforgiving and the nerves she feels from everyone else around her intensify it. Her number is called eventually and her whole family is waiting for her at the edge of the stage.

She’s crying by the time she’s walking off stage and those tears are reflected in her family’s eyes. She’s moving forward and LA’s compliments are making this unbelievable.

She follows people backstage to where she waits to hear more news.

Next, she realizes, is bootcamp.

After the hours of waiting she’s moving forward and her mom is talking to someone elses mother and she’s already embarrassed enough. She goes up to them and says a hello and her mom hands her a water before saying, “This is Camila’s mom, Lauren!” Lauren almost chokes on the water and says a shy ‘hi’ before observing the older woman. “Camila’s waiting somewhere else. Something about me tripping her out.” Lauren asks where and goes over to find the younger girl.

When she does find her the other girl is on her iPad, Lauren can only guess, on tumblr.

“You should go to rehab.” She says and then Camila’s looking up and then jumping into her arms and asking a million questions at once. “You made it through?” Lauren asks and it’s stupid because ‘duh’ they’re here waiting together.

Best friends. Lauren remembers what happened last time and she distinctly remembers Camila saying that they were best friends now, back when she hinted at wanting more. She accepted it at that point because she was sure she was attracted to the younger girl and now, with all of this stuff to focus on, she doesn’t want to think about the complications of anything more.

\-------------------------

When the girls are prepping for ‘Impossible’ and the nerves and dependency are dangling in front of their faces Lauren realizes that Camila’s voice was unique. Unique in a way that made her want to lay there and just listen to it all day.

\-------------------------

There's this smirk Camila gets after she sings, well after she sings anything really. It's infuriating how much she sets her a light without realizing it.

The older girl didn't really recognize how much she had noticed about her till they were already in the finals. It's stupid, she thinks, they’re both teenagers, both experiencing their dreams coming true at the same time.

In that short time the group has done so much. It's mind blowing.

She has to guess that it's got to be natural to notice things about her? She wishes she could ask every other girl group, she bets the spice girls had the same problem. Lauren sighs.

She’s spent four months in a mansion with her, sharing a room with her, but lately? It’s such a fucking cliche to say anything more. Two girls, one room, one band. Gay. She play softball. C’mon.

So yeah, Camila gets this smirk after she solos and she has these mannerisms that make her stomach lurch. And-- Lauren stabs a piece of her pancake harder than the others --- they’ve kissed a couple times since bootcamp.

“Lauren?” Ally pokes me with her fork. “You’ve been staring at your pancakes like they hold the mystery to life.” Dinah chuckles from the other side of the table. “I thought it was Camila that loved pancakes, but I guess she’s converted you too.” Lauren laughs at that because Dinah’s right about the converting, but not so much on the pancake loving. Not even Camila could make her stop loving waffles.

“I’m just a bit distracted, sorry.” Lauren stabs a piece of her now cold pancakes and takes a small bit. She continues to nibble aimlessly at her food. “Is it the show tomorrow night?” Ally plays the older sister roll because she’s well, older, but also because she’s just protective by nature.

“Yeah.” It’s a small lie, but no way is she talking to anyone about this yet.

Ally tells her to not worry and she mentions going out later to distract themselves, but Lauren only nods and finishes off her plate before mumbling something about reading one of her favorite books for a bit. I walk up the stairs and into her shared room with Camila, plopping herself on the bed and closing her eyes.

Everything’s just a bit overwhelming right now. Being in the spotlight makes everything that much more complicated. Between herself and Camila she’s actually the more innocent one, Camila just plays the face really well, but it’s a smart thing to do.

\------------------

“Lolo, you really should stop falling asleep in the middle of the day, that’s probably why you’re walking around so much at night.” Camila walked into the room and immediately threw a pillow at Lauren because it’s true, Lauren roams through the mansion at night and it’s slightly worrying.

“Mph.” Lauren flips herself over on the bed so she’s laying on her stomach.

“You read so many books and your vocabulary should really be more extensive.”

“Shut up.” Lauren says as she grabs the blanket that was at her knees and tugs it up so that her face is covered.

“Don’t do thaaaaat.” Camila draws out the ‘a’ in a way that makes Lauren smile. The older girl lifts the blanket up as an invitation for her roommate to slide in. Camila throws her phone on her bed and slides under so that her back is curled into Lauren’s front.

Lauren wonders if this is it. If this is what it’ll be like till whatever she feels goes away. Or if this is her chance. She wonders why and how this all happened and exactly what she needs to do to be okay.

“I came in here to wake you up and now you’re making me sleepy.” Camila’s voice is low and husky and Lauren can only take it in. She smiles against Camila’s head and mumbles, “Your fault.” She feels the laugh before she hears it and Camila turns around and rests her forehead against her own.

“Are you suggesting that I’ve done something wrong?” Camila says it and the words ghost over Lauren’s own lips in a manner that’s too intimate for Lauren. Too intimate for two people who don’t have labels and no rules. Her eyes slide close and she wills herself to speak. To tell Camila that she’s in her space. To scream that she is made up of rules she follows and outlines of her life. That Camila’s reckless nature will do nothing besides tear her apart.

“What if I say you have?” It’s daring and Lauren knows what’s supposed to happen next. She knows that the dazed look that she’s giving Camila and the way Camila’s smile has turned into more of a smirk is supposed to clue her in to moving away from the younger girl. That those kisses she’s confused about will just continue.

“Oh well.” Camila moves to close the few centimeters between them and Lauren doesn’t move back at all. She lets Camila guide her through this kiss, as she always has. As Camila pulls away Lauren contemplates pulling her back in. Making Camila want her this way and taking the control she craves back.

Instead she backs up and lays so that she’s flat on her back. She sighs and runs her hands through her hair in an irritated manner and Camila immediately picks up on it. Instead of commenting the younger girl just sits up and grabs her phone from the bed parallel to the one she’s on. She scrolls through her tumblr and gets bored before looking back over at Lauren. Her bandmate has turned so that her back is facing Camila.

Lauren decides that she’d rather not be in the room at the moment. That space is the best thing possible. She sits up and doesn’t say a word as she slides on some sweatpants over her boxer shorts and doesn’t bother putting a shirt over her black tank. She can feel Camila watching her.

She grabs her phone from the dresser closest to the bathroom and begins walking out toward the door--”Where are you going?” Lauren can’t help but smile the slightest at that. “I’ll be around.”

Lauren shuts the door tightly behind her and walks out towards the pool. She rolls the bottoms of her sweats up lazily and dips her feet into the water. The water is cool and she watches as the water ripples away from her feet and the sun glimmers upon the liquid blue easily.

“I should push you right in.” Lauren doesn’t need to look up to know it’s Camila again. She retorts back, “you’re stalking me. I’m going to get a restraining order.”

“That’s an awful thing to do.” Camila murmurs as she sits behind Lauren. Legs on either side of Lauren’s own and hands resting together on Lauren’s stomach.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” Camila’s voice doesn’t quiver or shake. Lauren wonders if she was wrong about Camila’s recklessness. “What if I said yes?” Lauren ponders out loud. Camila fingers un-clasp from one another as she begins to back away and Lauren quickly grasps onto them and clasps them back together with her own. The younger girls body is pressed tightly against her own.

“I suppose that means you’re not then.” Camila speaks it right into Lauren’s shoulder.

“Of course it’s a no.”

“We should be official, you know?” Camila says and it shocks Lauren in a way that Camila knows was completely out of left field. She knows she hasn’t been subtle, but it shocks her enough that Lauren hadn’t expected that at all.

“What does that entail exactly?” Lauren plays along with this because as the shock wears off she clearly recognizes that she had miscalculated the entire thing. Maybe Camila was more precise than she had given her credit for. Camila had said best friends before and now she recognizes the ‘something more.’ Lauren wants to be mad that it took so long and that she felt like she had been played with and strung along, but she can’t. She can’t because she’s been in love with the other girl for longer than she cares to admit.

“Whatever you want it to.” Lauren should be weary of Camila’s forwardness. She should be weary because she’s got their dreams hanging on the line. Weary because she met this girl with an amazing voice at starbucks.

“Okay.” Is all she says in reply.

\------------------

“Make out in front of us again and we’ll take pictures.” Dinah says as she laughs at the way Lauren’s glaring at her.

“We hate you.” Lauren says it and immediately Camila’s arm is coming up to smack her shoulder.

“We don’t, but please leave us be so we can make out.” Camila says and Normani fake gags and Ali’s shoving the other two out the door resolutely.

“Use protection!” Dinah screams and the two Miami natives can hear Ally and Normani laughing hysterically.

“One day, we should fake break up and see what they do.” Lauren says. Camila only smiles in and nods in agreement before she drags Lauren to their shared room. The girls have moved to LA officially and are recording their album.

She pushes the other girl to sit down and Lauren does so compliantly. Camila sits in her lap and asks her, “First impression?” Lauren thinks it’s a bit stupid to be playing this right now because she expected kissing.

“Patriotic.” Camila leans back and looks at her incredulously. “What?!”

“You were wearing red, white, and blue.”

“You’re stupid.” Camila says. Lauren smiles and just tucks a loose strand of brown hair back behind Camila’s ear. “Whatever.” She leans forward and kisses the girl. She’s done with questions. She’s waited long enough to do this anyways.

\-----------------------


End file.
